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False Profits (episode)
Voyager discovers a pair of Ferengi who control the economy of a primitive world; nearby is an unstable wormhole that leads back home. Summary :"Captain's log, stardate 50074.3. We have detected evidence that a wormhole recently appeared, and then disappeared, in a nearby solar system. We're on our way there to investigate." While following a wormhole, Voyager discovers a primitive planet where there's evidence of a modulated energy discharge consistent with those that come from Alpha Quadrant replicators. They find that a pair of Ferengi, Arridor and Kol, crash-landed and exploited a local myth about the Great Sages who were prophesied to come from the sky in a ball of fire. The Takarians worshipped the Ferengi as gods. Neelix attempted to imitate the Grand Proxy, representative of the Grand Nagus, but to no avail. The Ferengi discovered his plot and the Takarians attempted to burn Arridor, Kol, and Neelix at the stake. Fortunately, Voyager beamed them out in time, fulfilling the Takarian prophecies about the Sages returning to the skies. Voyager also wasted three photon torpedoes to further fulfill the part about the appearance of three new stars in the sky. Voyager is now ready to pass through the wormhole and return in the Alpha Quadrant, but Arridor and Kol manage to overwhelm two security guards and to escape from the ship with their shuttle. Voyager tries to beam them back, but they emit a graviton impulse in order to avoid transport. The two Ferengi are pulled into the wormhole, Voyager tries to pursue them but soon discovers that the graviton impulse has definitively destabilized the wormhole, knocking it off its axis so that it begins jumping erratically on both ends. This not only allows the Ferengi to flee, but also leaves Voyager crew stranded in the Delta Quadrant, about 69,000 light years away from home. *''Captain's log, stardate 50074.5. Based on information provided by the probe, we have replicated local attire for Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant Paris. They have gone to the surface to investigate. '' *''Captain's log, supplemental. I've been asked to join Lieutenant Torres and Ensign Kim in the science lab to hear what they've termed as 'very exciting news'. '' *''Captain's log, supplemental. The away team has returned with some very disturbing observations about the situation on the planet. '' Memorable Quotes "What ''are we going to do?" "''What a Ferengi always does in a situation this grave." "Panic?" "No, you idiot! He goes to the Rules of Acquisition. Unabridged and fully annotated with all 47 commentaries, all 900 major and minor judgements, all 10,000 considered opinions. There's a rule for ''every conceivable situation." : - '''Kol' and Arridor "Avoiding the Grand Proxy. See Hopeless Cause" : - Arridor, trying to find a way around following the Grand Proxy's orders. "Who's to say we're not their sages?" "We really are the sages?" : - Arridor and Kol "And may I say gentlemen, you both have very fine shoes." "Excuse me?" "Well the sages say you can tell a great deal about a man from his shoes, and I can tell from your shoes, you're men of refinement." : - Merchant to Tom Paris and Chakotay Background Information *This episode incorporates story elements from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Arridor and Kol were originally lost in the Delta Quadrant through the Barzan wormhole in "The Price". The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition and the Divine Treasury were introduced in Deep Space Nine. *Much of the premise of Voyager is based on references from that episode, the first show to use the term "Delta Quadrant" and establish its extreme distance (and tendency for unstable spatial phenomena like wormholes). *It is revealed here that there are 47 commentaries on the Rules of Acquisition. *Referenced Ferengi Rules of Acquisition: #95; a #299 was referenced but is fake. *Arridor's Unwritten Rule of Acquisition: When no appropriate rule applies, make one up. Awards *This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Costume Design for a Series (Robert Blackman). Links and References Guest Stars *Dan Shor as Arridor *Leslie Jordan as Kol *Michael Ensign as the bard *Rob LaBelle as Kafar *Alan Altshuld as the sandalmaker *John Walter Davis as the merchant Uncredited Co-Stars *Tarik Ergin as Ayala *Christine Artecona as Takarian female #3 References 47; Alpha Quadrant; annular confinement beam; Barzan wormhole; containment field; dampening field; Delta Quadrant; Divine Treasury; ''Enterprise''-D, USS; Ferengi; Ferengi Rules of Acquisition; Ferengi shuttle; frang; Ga'nah Province; Grand Proxy; gravimetric shift; gravitational eddy; graviton; Great Sages; Holy Pilgrim; ionic disruption field; metallurgical analysis; Murphy; phase profile; photon; plasma; quadruple lobe rub; reconnaissance probe; replicator; sandal; solar flare; "Song of the Sages"; subspace axis; subspace carrier wave; subspace instability; Takar; Takarian; verteron; wormhole |next= }} Category:VOY episodes de:Das Wurmloch es:False Profits nl:False Profits